McCain Presses for Immigration Overhaul This Year

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) ) talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2014. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Reuters

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) Sunday rejected the notion that an overhaul of immigration laws is off the table this year.

“I won’t give up,” said Mr. McCain, who has long supported overhauling the nation’s immigration system. “We have the broadest coalition of support of any legislation I’ve ever been involved in: big business, small business, evangelicals, the Catholic Church,” Mr. McCain said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Mr. McCain was a chief architect of legislation the Senate passed last year that would that would toughen border security, provide a path toward legal status to those in the country illegally and greatly expand the number of visas granted to foreign workers.

After signaling the House might finally push forward with the overhaul by passing legislation of its own, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) threw cold water on the idea earlier this month, saying House Republicans didn’t trust President Barack Obama to enforce any law they pass.

Mr. McCain warned that waiting until next year would be a mistake since immigration is “going to have to be addressed,” and doing so “would not be a viable scenario” in 2015 when it could hurt Republicans in the 2016 presidential election.

Many Republicans balked at debating an issue that divides them and feared giving the president a legislative victory ahead of the November elections. Some suggested pushing the issue to 2015, when Republicans might have control of the Senate and more leverage.

The Arizona Republican repeated his view that his party will have difficulties winning a national election if it further alienates the nation’s burgeoning Hispanic population by continuing to resist immigration legislation. He noted that demographics are changing “throughout the whole Southwest, and many other parts of the country.”

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